A Glass of Blessings - by Barbara Pym (Paperback)

About the Book

Despite her husband's aging, Wilmet Forsyth would like to believe she has changed very little. She cultivates a friendship with three unmarried priests and Piers Longridges, a man of unfathomly different character altogether.

Book Synopsis

Barbara Pym's early novel takes us into 1950s England, where life revolved around the village green and the local church--as seen through the funny, engaging, yearning eyes of a restless housewife

Wilmet Forsyth is bored. Bored with the everyday routine of her provincial village life. Bored with teatimes filled with local gossip. Bored with her husband, Rodney, a military man who dotes on her. But on her thirty-third birthday, Wilmet's conventional life takes a turn when she runs into the handsome brother of her close friend. Attractive and enigmatic, Piers Longridge is a mystery Wilmet is determined to solve. Rather than settling down, he lived in Portugal, then returned to England for a series of odd jobs. Driven by a fantasy of romance, the sheltered, naïve Englishwoman sets out to seduce Piers--only to discover that he isn't the man she thinks he is. As cozy as sharing a cup of tea with an old friend, A Glass of Blessings explores timeless themes of sex, marriage, religion, and friendship while exposing our flaws and foibles with wit, compassion, and a generous helping of love.

Review Quotes

"The most underrated novelist of the century . . . The subtlest of her books--the sparkle on first acquaintance has been succeeded by the deeper brilliance of established art." --Philip Larkin "[Pym] makes me smile, laugh out loud, consider my own foibles and fantasies, and above all, suffer real regret when I reach the final page. Of how many authors can you honestly say that?" --Mavis Cheek "Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures." --Anne Tyler "My favorite writer . . . I pick up her books with joy, as though I were meeting an old, dear friend who comforts me, extends my vision and makes me roar with laughter." --Jilly Cooper

About the Author

Barbara Pym (1913-1980) was a bestselling and award-winning English novelist. Her first book, Some Tame Gazelle (1950), launched her career as a writer beloved for her social comedies of class and manners. Pym is the only author to be named twice in a Times Literary Supplement list of "the most underrated novelists of the century." She produced thirteen novels, the last three published posthumously. Her 1977 novel Quartet in Autumn was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.